Heat dissipation apparatus

ABSTRACT

A heat dissipation apparatus for dissipating heat from two heat sources includes a heat sink, and a fan mounted on the heat sink. The heat sink includes a base and a plurality of parallel fins positioned on the base, the base contacts with one of the two heat sources for thermally conducting the heat generated by the one of the two heat sources. A slantwise slot is formed in the fins, an edge of the slot bent to form a slantwise deflecting portion. The fan is configured to generate airflow through the fins in such a manner that some of the airflow is deflected by the deflecting portion towards the second of the two heat sources.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a heat dissipation apparatus.

2. Description of Related Art

Electronic components, such as central processing units (CPUs), generate heat during normal operation, which can deteriorate their operational stability, and damage associated electronic components. Thus, the heat must be removed quickly to ensure normal operation of the CPU. A typical heat dissipation apparatus includes a heat sink mounted on a CPU to remove heat, and a fan fixed on the heat sink to generate airflow through the heat dissipation apparatus. However, the typical heat dissipation apparatus can only dissipate heat for a single heat source, which is not efficient.

What is needed, therefore, is to provide a heat dissipation apparatus for dissipating heat from multiple heat sources.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the embodiments can be better understood with references to the following drawings. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the embodiments. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an embodiment of a heat dissipation apparatus.

FIG. 2 is an assembled view of the heat dissipation apparatus of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of an embodiment of a heat dissipation apparatus. The heat dissipation apparatus includes a heat sink 10, a fan 30, and a mounting bracket 40.

Referring to FIG. 2, the heat sink 10 includes a base 15, and a plurality of heat pipes 12 positioned on a top surface thereof. A plurality of parallel fins 11 is secured on the heat pipes 12 with the heat pipes 12 passing therethrough. A bottom surface of the base 15 is configured to contact a heat source 60, such as a central processing unit (CPU) on a motherboard 50. The heat generated by the heat source is transmitted from the base 15 to the fins 11 via the heat pipes 12. The base 15 includes a heat conducting plate 151 defining a plurality of grooves (not shown) on a top surface thereof corresponding to the heat pipes 12, and a fixing plate 152 defining a plurality of corresponding grooves (not shown) on a bottom surface thereof. A lower portion of each heat pipe 12 is horizontally fixed in the corresponding grooves on the heat conducting plate 151 and fixing plate 152, and extends upward to pass through the plurality of parallel fins 11.

A slot 16 is defined in the plurality of parallel fins 11 adjacent to a first side of the heat sink 10. The slot 16 extends obliquely in the parallel fins 11 from a corner of each fin 11 to a center of each fin 11. An upper edge of the slot 16 is bent to form a slantwise deflecting portion 17. In another embodiment, a lower edge of the slot 16 is bent to form the deflecting portion 17. The deflecting portion 17 is angled with respect to the direction of the airflow from the fan 30 for deflecting the airflow to the other heat source 80 on the motherboard 50. In this embodiment, the deflecting portion 17 is perpendicular to the plurality of parallel fins 11. However, the deflecting portion 17 can be at other angles relative to the parallel fins 11 in other embodiments.

The mounting bracket 40 is an elastic piece, and is adapted to be mounted on a second side of the heat sink 10. The mounting bracket 40 includes a top wall 41 and two sidewalls 43, 45 extending perpendicularly and downwardly from opposite edges of the top wall 41. Four fastener holes 42 are defined at four corners of the mounting bracket 40. Four fixing holes 32 are defined near the four corners of the fan 30 corresponding to the fastener holes 42.

In assembly, the sidewalls 43, 45 are pulled outward in opposite directions to receive the parallel fins 11 in a space cooperatively formed by the top wall 41, and the sidewalls 43, 45. When topmost ends of the parallel fins 11 resist the top wall 41, the sidewalls 43, 45 are released to sandwich the parallel fins 11 therebetween. The fan 30 is fixed to the mounting bracket 40 by four fasteners 70 received in the fastener holes 42 through the fixing holes 32.

When the fan 30 rotates, the heat accumulated around the heat sink 10 will be dissipated by airflow from the fan 30. Some of the airflow produced by the fan 30 will pass through the parallel fins 11, and be deflected by the deflecting portion 17 towards other heat sources 80 on the motherboard 50. The heat accumulated on the other heat sources can be dissipated by the deflected airflow. The efficiency of heat dissipation for the entire motherboard 50 is improved.

Using a software application called Icepak to simulate the efficiency of the heat dissipation apparatus, the following results shown below were obtained. The simulated conditions are set to: initial ambient temperature 35 degrees Celsius. A power dissipation of the heat source is 95 W. The heat sink 10 has a dimension of 85.3 mm×81 mm×87.7 mm (length×width×height). The fins 11 are made of aluminum and have a dimension of 58.5 mm×0.4 mm×80 mm (width×thickness×length). The fan 30 has a dimension of 92 mm×92 mm×25 mm (length×width×height). A maximum air flow rate of the fan 30 is 35.32 cfm (cubic feet per minute). A rated speed of the fan 30 is 2000 rpm (revolutions per minute). The simulation according to the set conditions shows that the maximum temperature on the other heat source is 93.095 degrees Celsius when the heat dissipation apparatus of the disclosure, and 104.968 degrees Celsius when using a common heat dissipation apparatus.

It is to be understood, however, that even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the embodiments have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the embodiments, the disclosure is illustrative only, and changes may be made in detail, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

1. A heat dissipation apparatus for dissipating heat from two heat sources, comprising: a heat sink comprising a base and a fin structure which comprises a plurality of parallel fins, the base contacting with one of the two heat sources for thermally conducting the heat generated by the one of the two heat sources, a slantwise slot formed in the fins, an edge of the slot bent upward between two adjacent fins, the bent edge of the fins are coplanar and corporately form an inclined plane; and a fan mounted on the heat sink, and capable of generating airflow flowing through the fins in such a manner that some of the airflow is deflected by the inclined plane towards the second of the two heat sources.
 2. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inclined plane is perpendicular to the plurality of parallel fins.
 3. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, wherein an upper edge of the slot is bent to form the inclined plane.
 4. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, wherein a lower edge of the slot is bent to form the inclined plane.
 5. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, wherein the slot slantwise extends in the fins from a corner adjacent to a first side of the heat sink, a dimension of the bent edge is appropriately equal to a distance between the two adjacent fins.
 6. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 5, wherein the fan is mounted on a second side of the heat sink to generate airflow through the fins in such a manner that airflow flows from the second side of the heat sink to the first side of the heat sink.
 7. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, wherein the plurality of parallel fins are perpendicular to the base of the heat sink.
 8. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, wherein the heat sink further comprises a plurality of heat pipes passing through the plurality of parallel fins.
 9. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 8, wherein the base comprises a heat conducting plate defining a plurality of grooves on a top surface thereof corresponding to the heat pipes, and a fixing plate defining a plurality of corresponding grooves on a bottom surface thereof.
 10. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 9, wherein a lower portion of each heat pipe is horizontally fixed in the corresponding grooves on the heat conducting plate and fixing plate, and extends upward to pass through the plurality of parallel fins.
 11. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a mounting bracket with four fastener holes; and the fan further comprises four fixing holes, the fixing holes correspond to the fastener holes, the fan is fixed onto the mounting bracket by four fasteners received in the fixing holes.
 12. A heat dissipation apparatus for dissipating heat from two heat sources, comprising: a heat sink comprising a base and a fin structure which comprises a plurality of parallel fins, the base contacting with one of the two heat sources for thermally conducting the heat generated by one of the two heat sources, a slantwise slot formed in the fins adjacent to a first side of the heat sink, an edge of the slot bent upward between two adjacent fins to form a slantwise deflecting portion; and a fan mounted on the heat sink configured to generate airflow through the fins in such a manner that airflow flows from a second side of the heat sink to the first side of the heat sink, wherein the deflecting portion deflects some of the airflow from the fan towards the second of the two heat sources.
 13. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 12, wherein an upper edge of the slot is bent to form the deflecting portion.
 14. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 12, wherein a lower edge of the slot is bent to form the deflecting portion.
 15. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 12, wherein the slot slantwise extends in the fins from a corner adjacent to the first side of the heat sink, a dimension of the bent edge is appropriately equal to a distance between the two adjacent fins.
 16. The heat dissipation apparatus of claim 12, wherein the heat sink further comprises a plurality of heat pipes passing through the plurality of parallel fins. 